Peterka stays hot for Sabres in win against Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- JJ Peterka scored for the third straight game to help the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Saturday.

Peterka, who also had an assist, has four goals in his past three games. His goal gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead at 18:37 of the second period.

“I think we just played a little sloppy in the second,” Peterka said. “We probably tried to do too much. In the third we played just behind them. We played a simple game, made them go get pucks back, and I think that was just successful.”

Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist, and Ryan McLeod also scored for a third straight game for the Sabres (2-4-1). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves, earning his first victory of the season in his 100th NHL start.

“Yeah, I think the win was the biggest thing here,” Luukkonen said. “I talked about it before the season. I want to be part of it, I want to be part of the solution that gets us to the playoffs.”

Craig Smith scored his first two goals of the season for Chicago (2-3-1). Lukas Reichel had two assists, and Arvid Soderblom made 18 saves.

“We’re going to keep moving in the right direction, keep making corrections,” Smith said. “Obviously there was some tonight. We can look back, a few X’s and O’s stuff that resulted in a goal but continue to move forward and build our game as best we can.”

Thompson gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 8:39 of the first period. Peterka entered the offensive zone with the puck. Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic attempted a poke check, but the puck went to Thompson, who put a wrist shot past Soderblom.

“I loved our game in general, all the way through,” Thompson said. “It was a great start for us, played the game the right way, moving our feet. We were hard on the forecheck, didn’t really give them any time and space in the first period. I thought we broke the puck out real quick.”

Beck Malenstyn’s goal off a double deflection made it 2-0 at 11:31. Connor Clifton’s turnaround shot from inside the blue line caromed off Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser and Malenstyn.

Smith scored for the Blackhawks to make it 2-1 at 6:28 of the second period. Reichel made a cross-ice pass from the red line to Smith, who skated in and fired in a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle.

Reichel and Smith clicked again to tie the score 2-2 at 12:48. Reichel’s shot from the slot was stopped by Luukkonen, but the rebound went right to Smith, and he tapped it in.

“Yeah, I think our line was pretty good today,” Reichel said. “We were forechecking hard, we skated hard, and we got two goals, which is good. But at the same time, we’re disappointed because we didn’t win, and at the same time, we gave up two goals, our line. If you score, you’ve got to play defensively good too. First goal was a little bit lucky, but it’s just frustrating scoring two goals and then we give up two.”

Peterka restored Buffalo’s lead, taking a feed from Thompson and putting a forehand shot into the open net from the left of the crease to make it 3-2.

“We just find more to each other,” said Peterka, who missed games on Oct. 10 and 12 after sustaining a concussion during the NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal on Oct. 5. “Also like you all saw today, just finding more on the rush, too. Be an in-zone threat and on-the-rush threat, and that’s just super cool to have. The chemistry is getting better and better. I wanted to come back when I’m fully healthy to help the team as good as I can, and I think the coach puts me in really good spots, too.”

McLeod scored into an empty net at 19:34 for the 4-2 final.

“I thought the first period, we just didn’t skate and match the intensity,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “Kind of like that first period of the year (a 5-2 loss at the Utah Hockey Club on opening night). We just didn’t play well at all, so that cost us the game tonight.”

NOTES: The Sabres were 0-for-4 on the power play, making them 0-for-21 this season. … Sabres forward Jordan Greenway was scratched because of a lower-body injury. … Blackhawks forward Joey Anderson missed the game because of illness. … Blackhawks forward Patrick Maroon sat out because of a lower-body injury, sustained while blocking a shot in a 4-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.